1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus wherein a laminate object (object to be laminated) is encapsuled by heat-reactive upper and lower laminate films to perform a laminate treatment, by heating and pressurizing the laminate films while sandwiching the laminate object between the laminate films.
2. Related Background Art
In the past, a laminating apparatus wherein an appearance and preservation of a sheet-shaped laminate object are improved by performing a laminate treatment while encapsuling and sealing the object between laminate films has been proposed.
FIG. 17 shows an example of such conventional laminating apparatus.
In FIG. 17, a laminating apparatus 100 includes an upper laminate film roll 101a of an upper heat-reactive laminate film 102a and a lower laminate film roll 101b of a lower laminate film 101b. The laminate films 102a, 102b unwound from the respective laminate film rolls 101a, 101b are wound around respective pressure and heat rollers 103a, 103b which are urged against each other and are tensioned by pull rollers 105a, 105b. The pressure and heat rollers 103a, 103b include heaters 106a, 106b for heating the rollers therein, respectively.
From a platform 109 disposed at an upstream side of the paired pressure and heat rollers 103, a laminate object 110 is fed to a nip between the pressure and heat rollers 103a, 103b which comprises a joining point for the upper and lower laminate film 102a , 101b. The laminate object 110 is sandwiched by the upper and lower laminate films 102a, 102b and is pressurized and heated by the paired pressure and heat rollers 103, so that it is adhered between the laminate films. Thereafter, the laminate object sandwiching by the laminate films is ejected out of the apparatus by means of the paired pull rollers 105. Trailing ends of the laminate films 102a, 102b sandwiching the laminate object therebetween are cut by a cutter unit 111 arranged at a downstream side of the paired pull rollers 105.
Above a body of the apparatus 100, there is arranged an operation portion 113 which has switches 115, 116 for manually setting the feeding speeds of the laminate films 102a, 102b and of the paired pull rollers 105, and the temperature of outer surfaces of the paired pressure and heat rollers 103.
Next, a dividable or openable construction of the conventional laminating apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. 18.
In FIG. 18, the laminating apparatus 100 comprises an upper or first body frame 100a and a lower or second body frame 100b. The first body frame 100a is pivotally connected to the second body frame 100b via a support shaft 120. The upper laminate film roll 101a , the upper pressure and heat roller 103a, an upper tension roller 121a and the like are contained in the first body frame 100a. Similarly, the lower laminate film roll 101b, a lower tension roller 121b, the lower pressure and heat roller 103b, the upper and lower pull rollers 105a, 105b and the cutter unit 111 including an upper cutter blade 111a and a lower cutter blade 111b are contained in the second body frame 100b.
Next, the loading of the laminate films 102a, 102b to the laminating apparatus will be explained.
After the laminate film 102b unwound from the laminate film roll 101b is passed around the tension roller 121b, and the pressure and heat roller 103b, a leading end of the laminate film 102b is introduced into a nip between the paired pull rollers 105, and then the paired pull rollers 105 are rotated by manipulating a handle (not shown).
Then, after the laminate film 102a unwound from the laminate film roll 101a is passed around the tension roller 121a and the pressure and heat roller 103a, a leading end of the laminate film 102a is introduced into the nip between the paired pull rollers 105, and then the paired pull rollers 105 are rotated by manipulating the handle to insert the upper and lower laminate films 102a, 102b into a cutting opening of the cutter unit 111. Thereafter, the first body frame 100a is closed and is locked to the second body frame 100b, thus permitting the laminating operation.
However, in the respective above-mentioned conventional laminating apparatus, when the residual film amounts of the laminate film rolls 101a, 101b are lessened or when the laminate film rolls 101a, 101b are replaced by new laminate film rolls of laminate films 102a, 102b having different thicknesses, to use the an operator must insert a mandrel into the laminate film rolls 101a, 101b and to load the laminate film rolls 101a, 101b to the laminating apparatus.
Further, after the laminate film rolls 101a, 101b have been loaded in the laminating apparatus, the operator had to unwind the laminate films 102a, 102b from the laminate film rolls and to set the films around the tension rollers 121a, 121b, and the paired pressure and heat rollers (laminate rollers) 103 in a manual operation using his hands. Accordingly, since the loading and setting of the laminate films 101a, 101b caused the poor operability and required expert skill, there arose a problem that it took a long time for replacing the film rolls.
Further, in the above-mentioned conventional laminating apparatus, even when the first body frame 100a is opened, the pull rollers 105a, 105b are not separated from each other and the upper and lower cutter blades 111a, 111b of the cutter unit 111 are also not separated from each other. Accordingly, when the operator loads the laminate films into the laminating apparatus, he can not manually bring the leading ends of the laminate films to predetermined positions correctly while checking them with his eyes, with the result that the laminate films 102a, 102b were used wastefully and it was difficult to align the lateral edges of the films with each other. In addition, due to the poor resiliency of the Laminate films 102a, 102b, it was difficult to insert the leading ends of the films into a narrow gap between the cutter blades of the cutter unit 111. Furthermore, since the films 102a, 102b were adhered to surrounding metallic portions due to the static electricity on the films 102a, 102b, it was difficult to pass the films 102a, 102b through the cutter unit 111.